Daniel Day-Lewis Was Carried in a Wheel Chair Throughout His Award Winning Movie Because of His Method Acting
Daniel Day-Lewis is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of his generation who has given some marvelous performances that left the audience in awe. His intense on-screen persona was always intense which helped him in garnering numerous awards and thus establish himself as a prominent figure in the entertainment industry even if he has retired.
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He is widely regarded for his method acting which has only been excelled by quite a few actors in the industry with him being on the list. There was a time when he continued to stay in his character during the entire filming of his award-winning film, My Left Foot.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s Feet Never Touched The Ground in My Left Foot Filming!
The 65-year-old actor, Daniel Day-Lewis is a renowned celebrity who got known for his method acting. The actor was cast in My Left Foot to portray the character, Christy Brown who was suffering from cerebral palsy. To make the most out of his character, reports shared that the actor requested that he would be lifted to his car every morning and reach the studio with someone else’s support. From then on, he would need to be taken to the filming set in a wheelchair.
This continued throughout the filming process with assistants who were required to take him to restaurants with the actor insisting on being spoon-fed to better perform the role. He also demanded not to be called by his real name or something else other than the name of his character. His assistants continued to support him and ensure that he would never touch his feet on the ground.
While his acting still gives goosebumps to the fans, the director would want a disabled person to perform his role if it would have made in the present time.
My Left Foot Director Would Have Cast a Disabled Actor if It Was Filmed in This Era
Jim Sheridan directed the 1989 film and got praised for his screenplay and direction along with the message given in the film. He shared about feeling the need of casting a disabled person for the lead role at the current time.
He told Sky News back in 2021,
“I don’t think you could make it today. I don’t think you could make it without trying to find somebody physically impaired (to play the lead role).
He further added,
“I don’t think it’s right anymore. We’ve gone past that.”
He addressed Day-Lewis’s choice of staying in the character the entire time in the filming process as there were disabled kids in the movie which was the reason why he chose to stay in character throughout the process.
“He wanted to respect them so he stayed in character the entire time for 20 weeks and that’s as far as he could go as an able-bodied person playing a disabled person.”
However, he also mentioned the fact that his lead star has brought this character justice by portraying it the best he could. His intense role in portraying the character gave him great returns. His portrayal of Brown brought him his first Academy Award and British Academy Film Award.
Source: Daily Mail, Sky News
